Initial D Fusion Stage
by BoomChish
Summary: Iketani sees four mysterious cars drive past him on Akina late one night. They are the gaijin group Emerald Fusion and they're in town to face the competition. Are they really a challenge, though...? incomplete, on permanent hiatus. Sorry
1. Default Chapter

You guys know the drill. I don't own Initial D, its characters or anything else pertaining to the anime/manga. Emerald Fusion is deliberately a knockoff of an Initial D: Arcade Stage group that I hang out with, and yes, those are the cars we drive in the game. :P (I know, we're pitiful). They know who they are, and they gave me permission to write this. 

Summary: Iketani sees four mysterious cars drive past him on Akina late one night. They are the gaijin group Emerald Fusion and they're in town to face the competition. Are they really a challenge, though...?

Initial D Fusion Stage

by BoomChish (boomchish@2die4.com)

It was a quiet night on Mt. Akina, with the stars sparkling in the sky and the crickets chirping their calls. A beautiful day had receded to a beautiful night, and there was a calm wind blowing, gently ruffling the leaves in the tall trees.

Iketani Kouichirou of the Akina Speed Stars stood off to the side of the road, leaning against the guardrail and smoking a cigarette while staring at his car, his prized Silvia S-13. Under the soft lamplight of the street lamp, the car's green lustre shone and sparkled, revealing the exterior beauty. The interior beauty, the speed and power, was hidden from plain view.

And would probably remain hidden if the unerring leader of the Speed Stars didn't improve on his technique anytime soon. It was bitterly ironic, how he, the leader of Akina's fastest team, lacked the necessary skills to substantiate his position at the top of their team.

A roar of engines drew his attention away from his car towards the stretch of road that led to the Akina lake resort. It was dark out, but not dark enough to miss the pair - pairs - of headlights that were headed for the downhill course of Akina. In all, there were about four pairs of headlights… meaning there were four cars… all one behind the other. The car in the lead was a white RX-7 Spirit R FD3S. It was closely followed by a grey AE86 Levin GT-Apex, a pink Sil-Eighty and a yellow Lancer Evolution VII.

Iketani watched them carefully as they all zipped past him without even slowing down in the slightest. His jaw dropped at the breakneck speed in which they sped past him and his S-13. They were definitely skilled drivers behind the wheels of those cars. But even then, he was able to take note that all four cars had a sticker on the car body in different locations… a green sticker that bore words on it.

The words _Emerald Fusion_…

He held his breath. _There's a new team in Gunma? And where are they from, anyway?_

_I better tell the others…_

---

"What! So there's a new road racing team in Gunma?" Itsuki demanded of his sempai the following day at the GS gas station where Iketani worked with his fellow teammate Itsuki Takeuchi and their friend Takumi Fujiwara. Iketani was especially curious for Takumi's reaction to the new team. It was general knowledge by then that Takumi was considerably the best road racer in the area. In his AE86 Sprinter Trueno, he'd managed to defeat both illustrious Takahashi brothers from the Akagi RedSuns as well as the two best racers from the Myougi Night Kids, the Impact Blue combination from Usui _and_ one of the LanEvo drivers from the Irohazaka Emperors hailing from the Tochigi prefecture. It was safe to say that Takumi Fujiwara of Akina was virtually indestructible.

Iketani scratched his head. "Well… I saw all four cars pass by me on Mt. Akina last night… and all of them had the same sticker on their car… _Emerald Fusion_… I figured they _had_ to be a new team…"

"What cars were there?" Takumi asked, his signature bored expression dominating his face.

"If I remember correctly… the lead car was a white FD… followed by a grey Hachi-Roku Levin, a pink Sil-Eighty and a yellow Evo VII. A weird mix of cars."

"I'll say… a _pink_ Sil-Eighty? Must be a girl driving…" Itsuki mused, tapping his chin for inspiration. "Only a girl would buy a car with such a garish color like that."

"Well… you never know. In any case, we'll just have to wait and see if they make a second appearance or not…" Iketani answered hesitantly as he saw his friend and teammate Kenji pull into the gas station and park off to the side before joining them. Itsuki and Iketani were quick to fill him in on the news, while Takumi looked around, the bored expression never leaving his face.

"Oi… Takumi… you don't seem concerned," Itsuki commented loudly as he strode up to his best friend and spun him around to face him.

"Why should I be? It's not like we know their skill level anyway… Iketani-sempai just said he saw a new racing team zip past him. He was at the top of Mt. Akina's mountain pass… which is a straight stretch of road… lots of drivers go fast on straightaways when it's clear. There really isn't anything to worry about until we see how they fare in an actual race," Takumi pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Good point," Itsuki admitted as he pouted, his lower lip jutting out. Kenji strode up to them and smiled briefly. Takumi and Itsuki acknowledged his presence with a nod and a smile.

"From what I heard about this new racing team… they sure have an odd mix of cars… an FD, a Hachi-Roku Levin, a Sil-Eighty and an Evo VII… interesting to say the least, no?"

"And one of them _has_ to be a girl… I mean… who _else_ would drive such a fruity-colored Sil-Eighty? I wonder if the girl has a partner though… like Impact Blue. Hah, that would be interesting to see… a Sil-Eighty race with two girls against two girls," Itsuki commented.

Kenji shook his head. "But that's all that we know about them so far… which still isn't much… For all we know, they could be worse than that racing team on Mt. Shirane… or even better than Project D and Irohazaka's Emperors combined…" He shuddered at the thought.

Takumi wrinkled his nose. "I highly doubt that anyone _that _bad would drive around and show off their cars…"

"In any case, I have time off tomorrow. I can go scout around and see if I can locate any traces of them…" Kenji began, before being interrupted by a firm hand clamping down on his shoulder. He turned to face his friend and team leader, Iketani.

"If you do go and do that, be careful. The last thing you want is to get involved in something that may endanger your health… or life…" He scratched his head. "Well, okay… honestly, I doubt they'd be that bad, but still… we don't know much about them…"

Kenji laughed. "You sound worse than my mother, Iketani. But don't worry. I'll be fine."

---

The following morning, at around ten-thirty, Kenji's white 180SX pulled up into the Lake Akina resort, amid a clear sunny day with no clouds in the sky. There were quite a few people reveling in the beauty of the lake, but that wasn't what held his attention as he exited his car.

Two conspicuously bright cars were parked side by side, and both of them bore a green sticker in different locations on the body. One car was a pink Sil-Eighty and the other was a yellow Evo VII. He quickly scanned around the area closest to both cars, in the hopes of locating the drivers.

Not far from where both cars were parked, a girl was sitting on the grass, staring at the lake in quiet awe. Her back was facing him and as far as he could tell, she _might_ be the driver of the pink Sil-Eighty…

There was only one way to be sure…

"Um… excuse me?" he asked nervously as he approached her. The girl turned at the sound of his voice, looked up at him, then stood up. At a closer glance, he could tell that she wasn't much older than he was… in fact… she appeared to be several years younger than him. She tilted her head to one side and stared at Kenji with a neutral expression.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Um… is that your car?" he queried, pointing to the Sil-Eighty. The girl squinted and tried to follow where he was pointing.

"Which car?" she asked.

"The pink Sil-Eighty… is it yours?"

"No," she replied, almost indignantly. "Though I like the color pink, it's a bit too garish and girly to have as a car color. On the other hand, that car right next to it is mine."

His eyes widened. "You mean the yellow Evo VII is your car?"

"Yes… why? Is there something wrong with me owning an Evo VII?" she inquired suspiciously.

"No, not at all… I was just curious because…"

She cut him off as she moved aside a bit and pointed to his 180SX. "That your car?"

He turned around and stared at it for a bit, then turned back to face her. "Uh… yeah… why?"

The girl squinted and tried to read the sticker on his car. "'Akina Speed Stars', eh? So you're a member of the local racing team here, I take it?"

He decided to throw all caution to the wind and be direct. "You're a member of that new racing team… Emerald Fusion, or whatever you're called."

She shrugged. "Yeah, and? Something wrong with a girl being a part of a racing team?"

"Not at all… I was just curious… Where are you guys from, anyway?"

"Oh, we're not from around here… We just heard that there were several good racing teams here in the Gunma prefecture and we decided to check it out. Y'know… satisfying the old curiosity. Oh… and by the way," here, she extended her hand, "my name is Vanney."

He shook it. "My name is Kenji. In any case, it's nice to meet new racers every so often." He paused and scratched his head again. "So… um… are you guys planning on challenging anyone in the area?"

"Not that I know of… well… I know _I_ won't… I usually don't race unless someone challenges me, which doesn't happen all too often, because they seem to think that, being a girl, I suck at racing. Well… _I_ think I'm good… in any case… I can't really say the same for the others, though."

"Where exactly _are_ the others anyway?" he queried as he jammed his hands into his pockets and shuffled his feet a bit.

There was a brief silence until a man walked up to Vanney and handed her a can of cola. "There you go, Vanney. Say, who's this guy?" he asked as he popped open his can of iced tea and took a swig.

"Denis, this is Kenji, a member of the Akina Speed Stars. They're the local team here on Mt. Akina. Kenji, this is my boyfriend, Denis. He's also the driver of that pink Sil-Eighty parked next to my Evo," she explained.

Both men shook hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you," Kenji spoke politely.

"Same here."

He scratched his head yet again. "Wait… _you're_ the one who owns the pink Sil-Eighty? Why pink?" he demanded.

"Well, why not? Besides, pink is the color of success!" Denis exclaimed before taking a gulp of iced tea. Vanney merely snorted and shook her head, although she was smiling.

Kenji just stared at both of them and shrugged helplessly. "Uh… okay… if you say so…"

She nudged him. "So… Kenji… tell me… you guys the only team around here, or are there other teams on other mountains that may interest us?"

He looked startled that she'd asked. "Uh… well… there's us… the Speed Stars on Akina… on Akagi, there's the RedSuns and Project D… they're sort of consisting of the same people, but Project D is like the elite of the elite…" He looked over at them to make sure that they were listening, then continued. "Then there's the Myougi Night Kids on Mt. Myougi… they're sorta okay… I guess… then there's Impact Blue on Mt. Usui… they're not really a team, just two girls who drive together in a blue Sil-Eighty…" He could feel his palms sweating. "Then there's this team over in Nikko, in the neighboring prefecture of Tochigi… the Irohazaka Emperors… and… yeah…" His voice trailed off.

Denis cracked his knuckles, causing Kenji to wince. "Aah, I'll bet we can take 'em on. Right, Vanney?" He nudged her and winked. She just wrinkled her nose.

"Don't ask me, dumbass. If we rank our skills in Emerald Fusion, I'm the fourth best… meaning I'm the worst… Nayth's the one who dominates over all, then you got rat-boy Simon, then you, then me. And I'd rather reserve my judgement of their skills until later. I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into before I barrel on ahead like a fat man in an all-you-can-eat buffet. Barreling ahead mindlessly is _your_ job, ne?" she countered, glancing at her boyfriend and smiling sweetly.

Denis scowled. "Shut up…"

Kenji just stared at the both of them in complete confusion. "Uh… okay… I'm not following… but… okay…" He took an involuntary step back. Vanney took note of his uneasiness and chortled as she patted him affectionately on the shoulder. He shrank back from her touch.

"Don't worry about us, Kenji. Sure, we look like a bickering couple, but we do get along quite well. We're just overly fond of pointing out each other's shortcomings."

"I… see…" He scratched his arm absently. "Well… I, uh… better get going… I have other things to do… so… I guess… I'll see you… whenever you guys decide to show up… right?"

"That's about right." She waved to him. "See ya around, Kenji."

The perplexed Speed Star waved back at them, turned and quietly walked back to his car. When he got inside his 180SX, he took note that Denis and Vanney were still looking at him, so he immediately started the engine, jammed his car into reverse and shot out of the lake resort as if the devil was following him. Denis just scratched his head as Kenji peeled out of the parking lot. 

"I wonder what's up with _him?_"

---

"So… wait… there _is_ a girl in Emerald Fusion, but she drives the yellow Evo VII instead? And it's her boyfriend who drives the pink Sil-Eighty?" Itsuki demanded later on that day as Kenji showed up at the gas station and reported what he'd learned.

"Yeah, that's right… and according to what I understand… the driver of the white FD… Nayth, she said his name was… is their leader… followed by some guy she called rat-boy Simon… I guess he drives the Levin Hachi-Roku… and then there's her boyfriend Denis in the Sil-Eighty… then her…"

"Did she say how good she was?" Iketani asked curiously. Takumi stood close to them, his bored expression reigning on his face. Kenji stared at Takumi, hoping for a reaction, but when he got none, he continued on.

"She said among the four of them, she's the worst driver… but remember… worst for her may not be our definition of worst…"

"And did she say whether she would be coming to challenge us to a race or something of that sort?" Iketani pressed on. Kenji just blinked and stared blankly at Iketani and Takumi before remembering what they'd said.

"Oh no… she just said that they'd be around whenever they decide to show up… which could be… whenever…" he spoke vaguely and was promptly cuffed on the arm.

"Why didn't you challenge them? That way, we'd get to see how good they really are!" Itsuki cut in indignantly, glaring at Kenji and trying to look menacing, but failing.

"Would _you_ challenge them if you ran into them?" Kenji countered somewhat defensively. Itsuki just sort of trailed off and suddenly became ultimately fascinated with his shoelaces. Takumi chuckled lightly and patted his friend on the back.

"Well, whoever they are, I'm sure they'll show their true skill eventually. They're new, so we just have to give them time…"

---

Well, that's the end of Chapter 1…

AN: I actually wrote this story over the summer vacation, but never had the backbone to actually post it up here. (That and I was actually too lazy to split it up into several chapters, so that I wouldn't overwhelm people with just one huge block of a seemingly neverending fic) But anyway, here it is. The rest will come later. Hope you like it! :)

~BoomChish


	2. Chapter 2

You guys know the drill. I don't own Initial D, its characters or anything else pertaining to the anime/manga. Emerald Fusion is deliberately a knockoff of an Initial D: Arcade Stage group that I hang out with, and yes, those are the cars we drive in the game. :P (I know, we're pitiful). They know who they are, and they gave me permission to write this. 

Summary: Iketani sees four mysterious cars drive past him on Akina late one night. They are the gaijin group Emerald Fusion and they're in town to face the competition. Are they really a challenge, though...?

Initial D Fusion Stage

by BoomChish (boomchish@2die4.com)

Ryousuke Takahashi was seated at his desk, staring at his computer screen, which displayed an intricately drawn map of Mt. Akagi, the home course of both his teams, the Akagi RedSuns and his new brainchild, Project D. He was plotting the fastest line possible for Akagi's downhill course, depending on the car being used. Pausing for a brief moment to stroke his chin thoughtfully, he moved his hand towards his mouse to make an adjustment when the door to his room flung open and someone sat down on his bed in such a frustrated manner that his bed should have collapsed, but did not.

He did not turn around. "What is it now, Keisuke?" he demanded of the bleached blonde who was seated on his bed, sounding somewhat huffy.

Keisuke's voice was sharp with disdain as he answered his older brother, "I was on Akagi with Kenta and Hiroshi and then out of nowhere, this grey Hachi-Roku Levin shows up. For a second, I thought it was Fujiwara - since it was a Hachi-Roku - but then I saw that it was a Levin… and then this damn gwai lo steps out and challenges me to a race down Akagi. On Saturday, at ten o'clock in the evening. I was about to refuse, figuring he didn't look like too much of a challenge, then three other cars show up behind him… a white Spirit R FD, a _pink_ Sil-Eighty and a yellow Evo VII. All drivers get out and get this: they're _all_ gwai los, except for the Evo driver… she appears to be Asian, but not Japanese… They _all_ look to be pretty experienced, and remembering Fujiwara's skill, I figured why not accept the challenge, so I did."

"And? What's your point?" Ryousuke queried, his dark eyes never leaving his computer screen.

"Who the hell are they? I've never even heard of _Emerald Fusion_," Keisuke half-whined.

"And?" his brother repeated. "If they challenge you, just accept it without too much of a fuss and go for it. Make them see why it's foolish to challenge Project D."

"Okay… just that… there's something… different about them…" he murmured.

"As you said, they're gwai los. Of course there's something different."

"Not all of them are… the girl isn't…"

"A girl, hm? Well, that ought to be interesting…" Ryousuke mused. "Apart from Impact Blue and that girl who won't stop stalking you with her silver FD, there haven't really been other girl racers around. It might be interesting to see how she fares against some of us."

"She is sorta cute…" Keisuke commented absently. Ryousuke merely shook his head at his otouto.

"That doesn't matter right now. In any case… the guy who challenged you… what's his name?"

Keisuke shook his head. "I don't remember too correctly… all I know is that the Sil-Eighty driver said something to him… something along the lines of "_c'est paske tu suce, rat boy_." Like, I understood 'rat boy' but not everything else… and why would he call his own team mate 'rat boy', anyway?"

"The Myougi Night Kids insult each other all the time… that's nothing new… and you should know as well as I do that Kyouichi Sudou of Emperor just loves to call Seiji Iwaki an idiot at any possible moment."

"Yeah, but 'idiot' is not the same as 'rat boy'," Keisuke somewhat protested.

Ryousuke finally turned his chair around to face his otouto with a half stern, half amused look on his face. "Why all the interest in how the members of Emerald Fusion treat each other?" When Keisuke couldn't produce a satisfactory answer, he continued, "And to satisfy your curiosity, the Sil-Eighty driver basically said "It's because you suck, rat boy." In any case, if they want to insult each other, that's their business. And what about Kenta's training… how is that coming along?"

Keisuke shook his head in frustration. "Sometimes, I wonder whether Kenta is even paying attention to what I'm telling him… it's like his head's stuck in the clouds or something when I'm talking…" He grunted in frustration. "Why do _I_ have to train him, anyway?"

"Because he won't even listen to me. Or, failing that, he doesn't understand what I'm talking about," the elder Takahashi brother explained.

"… sometimes, _I_ don't even know what the heck you're talking about…" Keisuke muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Ryousuke caught it and eyed his brother coldly.

"In any case, you should practice for the race. We don't know the skill level of these people just yet... so you should make sure that you're absolutely ready."

"Aniki…" Keisuke half-protested, but Ryousuke had turned back to face his computer and did not turn around to face his brother again. Keisuke just sat there, staring at his brother's back, before he got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

---

Days passed and the eventful day came around. By around nine in the evening, people started to gather at Mt. Akagi for the race between the infamous Keisuke Takahashi and a member from the intruding team known as Emerald Fusion. The members of Project D were already at the top of the mountain pass, waiting for the people to arrive.

"… from what you're telling me, my opponent's name is Simon… and that even the girl… Vanney, you said her name was, called him rat-boy Simon as well…" Keisuke was wrinkling his nose at the thought of his adversary.

"Lots of love there," Kenta Nakamura commented snidely as he sniffed derisively at the mention of Keisuke's opponent. Keisuke shook his head at Kenta's comment and turned to face Takumi. 

"He's the second best racer in their team, right?" he asked the young Hachi-Roku driver.

"That's according to what Kenji told me," he confirmed while scratching his head absentmindedly. Keisuke resisted the urge to strangle him for not being informative enough, but he scowled instead. Suddenly, the walkie-talkies went off with loud, harried voices.

"There are four cars making their way up Akagi right now!" one of the lesser RedSuns members shouted. Then, "Wait… two of them are waiting at the finish line… and the other two are making their way up the pass right now… the one in the lead is a white Spirit R FD and the other is a grey Hachi-Roku Levin."

"Well…" Ryousuke mused as he stared at his younger brother with a smirk on his face; "they're here…"

Presently, the white FD pulled up to the top of the mountain pass with the grey Hachi-Roku Levin right behind it. The FD pulled over to the side while the Hachi-Roku took its position at the starting line next to Keisuke's bright yellow FD. All Project D members, and Kenta and Hiroshi watched as both drivers emerged from their cars and strode over to them. The driver of the FD was about the same height as Ryousuke, he was lanky and had brown hair and a mustache and goatee. He didn't appear to be all that menacing; in fact, he was smiling broadly. The driver of the Hachi-Roku Levin was somewhat shorter, with slightly lighter brown hair, bright blue eyes that sparkled with mischief and a huge grin on his face, not unlike the FD driver. 

"So I take it this is a simple race downhill to the bottom of the mountain pass?" the FD driver queried amicably. Keisuke wrinkled his nose at the comment and Kenta practically growled. Ryousuke on the other hand, remained impassive.

"Indeed. But if it's not too much to ask, who exactly are you two?"

The FD driver bowed slightly. "My name is Nayth, and I'm the leader of Emerald Fusion." He gestured towards his friend next to him. "And this is Simon, the second best driver in our team. Our other two members, Denis and Vanney elected to stay at the bottom of the mountain pass and wait for us."

Keisuke wrinkled his nose again. "You want me to race _him_," he spoke, pointing to Simon, "while he drives in _that_?" he finished, pointing to the Hachi-Roku. 

Nayth shook his head. "Don't let appearances deceive you. One of _your_ members drives a Hachi-Roku as well, ne? And he's practically indestructible, or so I've heard. But that's not the point."

"The point is, I'm not good enough to race _you_?" Keisuke snapped. Ryousuke shook his head at his brother's answer. Nayth exchanged glances with Simon, then turned back to face both Takahashis.

"You accepted the challenge, ne? What seems to be the problem now?"

"Because you're insinuating that I'm not good enough to race…"

"Keisuke…" Ryousuke's calm voice cut in, "stop whining. You're delaying the race. You agreed to the challenge, now go get ready." When the younger Takahashi started to protest, Ryousuke gave him a cold glare and he dropped his shoulders and slouched. He made a face at Simon and scowled.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're in a Hachi-Roku," he sniped.

"I wasn't expecting you to go easy on me," was his reply as he calmly made his way to his Hachi-Roku and got in. Keisuke stared at his opponent for a while before he shrugged and got into his beloved yellow FD and started his engine. Nayth stepped off to the side and watched impassively as the main timekeeper of the RedSuns and Project D, Hiroshi Fumihiro, stood a little in front of both cars and raised his hands for the countdown.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Keisuke-san is gonna win. I mean… that Hachi-Roku driver isn't anything like Fujiwara, so he doesn't stand a chance!" Kenta crowed. Nayth eyed the RedSuns's rain specialist and didn't say a word. Takumi caught Nayth's glance and was quick to answer Kenta.

"I still wouldn't be so sure… Wataru Akiyama was fairly good in his Hachi-Roku Levin… sure; he couldn't defeat _me_, but still… none of us have seen how these people drive… so we should reserve our judgement until later…"

"As always, the one who imparts the best wisdom is the one you'd least expect," Nayth commented loud enough for them to hear while Hiroshi was just finishing the countdown.

"… _san… ni… ichi…GO!"_ he yelled as both cars sped forward and proceeded down the mountain pass. Keisuke, being the one with a more powerful car, had assumed the lead and led the way, with Simon's Hachi-Roku following him closely. All Project D members watched quietly as both cars disappeared down the mountain pass. Kenta was grinning broadly like an idiot when both cars could no longer be seen.

"See? I _know_ Keisuke-san's gonna win! He took the lead right away! And in racing, that's half the battle!" he exclaimed with glee. 

"In that other half, it's also very possible for his opponent to overtake him. You, above all people, should know that well, Kenta," Ryousuke murmured quietly. 

In the meantime, Keisuke was carefully watching his adversary in the rearview mirror as he maintained his lead position. The first part of the Akagi downhill course was a simple straightaway, which then curved slightly to meet with a sharp curving hairpin turn. He knew that the Hachi-Roku, whether it was a Trueno, like Takumi's car, or a Levin, like this guy's, it was slow on the straightaways. He decided to exploit that fact and kept pulling away as much as he can during the first straight stretch of road. When the road curved, he kept his car aligned on the outside, ready to take the hairpin. When he came close, he downshifted, braked and quickly turned his car hard and drifted with considerable grace into the first major hairpin curve. When he exited and aligned himself, he was shocked to find the grey Levin right on his tail.

He muttered a curse under his breath as he dropped gears and kept drifting into the next set of short rapid turns, which, among other things, had another small, tight, hairpin. Once again, as soon as he exited the curves, the Levin was right behind him. Thankfully, there was another somewhat straight stretch of road, so he managed to use that moment to pull away again…

---

"I've heard a lot of things about this Keisuke Takahashi guy," Denis began as he stood at the finish line of the Akagi downhill course, watching the other people who were waiting in anticipation for the winner of the race to emerge. Vanney stood next to him, her eyes on the stopwatch, her brow furrowing with boredom.

"Like what? That he's got an array of fangirls eager to catch a glimpse of him?" she demanded somewhat snappishly as she jerked her head in the direction of the other girls who had elected to show up for the race. They all had signs that bore the words "_We love you Keisuke-kun!" "Go Keisuke!" "I want to have your children!"_ and so forth. She shook her head at the sight. "Give me a break. I have better things to do than listen to _them_ squeal and shriek like sissies."

"Well, I heard that ever since he'd started that elite racing team with his elder brother Ryousuke and that other kid… Takumi Fujiwara, he's been more serious about his racing… so Simon might have a hard time beating him…"

She gave her boyfriend a sidelong glance. "You're telling me you have no faith in rat-boy?"

"I didn't say that; I said that he's gonna have a hard time defeating Takahashi."

Vanney shook her head again. "So? If it's a challenge for Simon, then so be it. Rat-boy _likes_ challenges, remember? He'll have fun with this one…"

"Yeah… you have a point…" he murmured as he snaked his arm around her waist and drew her closer to him. She merely chuckled and leaned her head against his shoulder.

---

Keisuke was starting to lose his patience. Every time he'd reach a straightaway, he'd manage to create some distance between his FD and the grey Hachi-Roku Levin, but as soon as he'd hit a tight corner, the Levin would be on his tail again.

_Just like Fujiwara did,_ he'd remembered, annoyed at the thought.

At least the Levin hadn't passed him yet. And considering the way the Akagi mountain pass was paved, it was unlikely that he'd do so. The only curves that were left were the four wide hairpins near the bottom of the course, which were coming up soon. And there was a significant amount of distance between himself and the Emerald Fusion driver. He had this one in his pocket.

"_…c'est paske tu suce, rat-boy_," he recalled the Sil-Eighty driver had said to his teammate when the challenge had been issued. Keisuke smirked at the thought of that. _Not even your teammates believe in your skills…_ With that thought floating in his head, he entered the first of the four wide hairpins… and was faced yet again with the Levin on his tail. He kept a tight reign on his steering and quickly claimed the inside as he exited the first curve…

But as he drifted into the second curve, he was neck to neck with the grey Levin. His blood started to boil. _This can't be! How the hell can this guy catch up so quickly?_ He kept a tight rein on his FD as he drifted into the next curve… only to have the Levin box him in from the inside and pull ahead. He growled menacingly as he attempted to reclaim his position in front in the fourth and final curve before the finish line, but it was hopeless. The driver of the Levin had managed to keep his car in front of Keisuke's FD, blocking any attempts to pass him and thus, passed the finish line first and claimed the victory.

Keisuke allowed himself to curse out a long unmitigated string of profanity, though unusual as it was for him, as he pulled over to the side after he passed the finish line, and exited his car to congratulate his adversary, as an honorable racer would. The driver of the Levin, Simon, looked beside himself with joy, even more so when the Evo driver walked up to him and showed him his time on the course. He walked over to where the lesser members of Emerald Fusion were standing.

"I underestimated you. You're pretty good," he commented as he shook Simon's hand. The other driver smiled and returned the handshake.

"Thank you. You were pretty good too. For a moment, I'd thought I'd lost that one."

Keisuke glanced at Denis, who hovered protectively around the Evo driver… Vanney, Fujiwara said her name was. "So what do you think of your rat-boy now?"

"I never said that Simon was bad on the road. I always knew that. On the other hand, he and I have been friends for a long time, so we call each other names like that. Y'know… privileges of friendship." He grinned wolfishly. Vanney rolled her eyes and shook her head as she jammed the stopwatch into her pocket and folded her arms across her chest. Keisuke then glanced at her.

"And you? What's your take on all of this?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure on what take I should follow. All I do know is that I hope no one from Emerald Fusion ever gets a handful of _those_," she answered derisively, pointing at the gaggle of fangirls who were now crying because Keisuke had lost the race. She stared at the younger Takahashi. "I simply don't know how you can deal with that…"

He shrugged in response. "Comes with time, I guess…"

She opened her mouth to speak when a roar of rotary engines was heard and two white cars arrived at the finish line and pulled off to the side. One was a white FD and the other was a white FC. All of a sudden, the groups of fangirls began cheering for Ryousuke as the tall dark-haired man exited his car and went to join the small group at the bottom of the mountain pass. At the same time, Nayth emerged from his FD and casually walked over to where his teammates were.

"Very well done Simon. I'm impressed," were the first words out of Nayth's mouth. Simon nodded and smiled broadly. Ryousuke viewed the exchange in silence, then turned to face his brother. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when all Emerald Fusion members looked in their direction. 

"I'll tell you later," was all Ryousuke said.

---

"Argh! I can't believe I lost!" Keisuke vented after everyone had left and only Project D remained at Akagi. Well, at least the RedSuns' portion of Project D; Takumi had gone home to sleep so that he could do the deliveries in the morning. The younger Takahashi growled furiously and kicked the guardrail in his frustration. Kenta did his best to calm Keisuke down and Hiroshi looked concerned while Ryousuke kept his expression impassive.

"Keisuke… can you explain to me what happened?" he queried calmly.

He stared at his brother, his face registering complete frustration. "All I know is that I was in the lead for most of the race… then at the last four hairpins, he comes out of nowhere and boxed me in, then passed me and won." He kicked the guardrail again. "Damnit, I can't believe I lost!"

"It's okay, Keisuke-san… That other guy just got really lucky. I'm sure you could've beaten him had he not been so lucky," Kenta answered brightly, hoping that that would assuage the frustration that dominated the FD driver. Keisuke merely sent him a scathing glance, which caused Kenta to shrink away and apologize profusely.

"Keisuke," Ryousuke began in his usual modulated voice, "now think carefully… are you _certain_ that it was nothing but luck? I have the feeling that you underestimated him."

"I did not!" his younger brother retorted, his cheeks burning. Ryousuke eyed him carefully and sighed before he shook his head.

"You weren't expecting him to keep up with you, weren't you? Nor were you expecting him to suddenly pass you near the end of the course." He was firm with his response, and seeing as Keisuke didn't respond, he shook his head again. "In any case, a loss is a loss… You'll just have to train harder…" Then he turned around and walked a distance away. Keisuke watched his brother leave, then growled again.

"Those damn gwai los… I'll get my comeuppance one of these days…"

"Keisuke-san…" Kenta began plaintively when he was cut off by another person's voice. "So you lost against a gwai lo in a Hachi-Roku Levin… and it wasn't even someone affiliated with Fujiwara… How amusing," the man murmured as he chuckled.

Keisuke glared at the newcomer. "Shut up, Nakazato. I beat _you_ when I went to Myougi in any case… so what makes you think you stand a chance against _them_?"

Takeshi Nakazato of the Myougi Night Kids smirked and shook his head. "You picked the wrong member to mess with, that's all… You probably would've won had you raced the effeminate one with the pink Sil-Eighty… or maybe the girl in the yellow Evo VII… I get the impression that those two are merely there for show."

Keisuke wrinkled his nose. "I'd rather not waste my time with second-rate racers in any case. If those two _were_ for show as you say, then it'd be a waste of my time and my gas to race them. And furthermore, it was the Levin driver who challenged _me_, not the other way around. I couldn't necessarily just go and refuse his challenge, then challenge the Sil-Eighty driver, or the Evo driver. That'd be inconsiderate and dumb." He shook his head. "And what are you still doing here, anyway?"

"Just curious… is there any way to get in touch with these Emerald Fusion gwai los?"

It was Kenta who answered, sharp and obnoxious, "If we knew, we'd be able to issue a rematch, but as it is, your guess is as good as ours." Keisuke cringed at Kenta's uncharacteristic fluctuation in vocals, which attracted the attention of Ryousuke, who returned to join the group.

"Nakazato, what are you doing here?" he demanded in his usual cool tone.

"I just came to watch the match between your brother and this so-called new team… Wasn't much of a match, if you ask me… but in any case… is there any way to issue out a challenge to them?"

Ryousuke shook his head. "Not that I know of… just show up at Myougi and hope that one of them shows up too… it's all we can do for now."

Nakazato made a face. "I usually don't like waiting around for people… but if you say so…" It was his turn to shake his head. "Well, we'll see what happens… and hopefully, Shingo doesn't run into them first… or only God knows what will happen…"

(END CHAPTER 2)

---

*sigh*

AN: Just going at it one by one… Maybe by the end of this week, I'll have what I've written so far uploaded =P

Chau

~BoomChish


	3. Chapter 3

You guys know the drill. I don't own Initial D, its characters or anything else pertaining to the anime/manga. Emerald Fusion is deliberately a knockoff of an Initial D: Arcade Stage group that I hang out with, and yes, those are the cars we drive in the game. :P (I know, we're pitiful). They know who they are, and they gave me permission to write this. (The song lyrics used in this chapter are the property of their respective owners and in no way do I claim credit for their creation)

Summary: Iketani sees four mysterious cars drive past him on Akina late one night. They are the gaijin group Emerald Fusion and they're in town to face the competition. Are they really a challenge, though...?

Initial D Fusion Stage

by BoomChish (boomchish@2die4.com)

_King of your love, _

I wanna be with you my girl, now. 

Cause' I know this time, 

I'll take you high

You better follow me up to the sky…

Vanney had her car volume cranked to a significantly loud volume and was singing along as she drove around Mt. Myougi one afternoon later on in the following week. Since she was considered to be the worst skilled driver in Emerald Fusion, she was responsible for scouting around and looking for the other teams in the prefecture. Not that she was trying too hard; in fact, she had only reached Mt. Myougi in the afternoon, having spent her morning checking out the various stores in the district and keeping a mental note of whether the merchandise she saw warranted a second return. 

As she drove down Mt. Myougi's fairly quick winding roads, she kept grooving to the happy Eurobeat that continued to blare from her radio as she saw a rather sharp turn approaching. She still kept bobbing her head to the music as she took the outside and upon entering the curve, turned the wheel of her Evo hard so that she slid close to the inner guardrail and pretty much rode it out until the road started to straighten out again. That's when she began to countersteer to realign her car and drive off. 

"Holy crap… that was pretty bad… thank god Nayth or Simon isn't here… they'd really light into me for screwing up on that turn…" she muttered to herself amid the blaring music of Dave Rodgers' Kingdom of Rock. "It wasn't even a hairpin either… god, do I ever suck in drifting into _those_."

_Welcome to the music and Kingdom of Rock. _

Take you away, baby 

Welcome to the pleasure and Kingdom of Rock, babe. 

Do you want to be... 

Suddenly, she saw a red Honda Civic SiRII appear in her rearview mirror. At first she thought nothing of it, until she'd noted that the Civic was staying right on her tail… _and_ flashing its lights at her.

_Holy crap… he wants to race me? This ain't good…_ Vanney thought to herself as she eventually just slowed down and pulled over to the side and let out a huge sigh. It was only a split second later that she realized that she'd left her radio on. Sighing, she reached to turn it off as the chorus ended.

_Welcome to the music and Kingdom of Rock. _

Take me away, baby 

Welcome to the pleasure and Kingdom of Rock, babe. 

Do you want to be mine?

---

Shingo Shouji, the downhill specialist of the Myougi Night Kids felt rather proud of himself that he'd managed to scare the Evo driver just enough so that she'd pull over to see what he wanted. Takeshi had alerted him that there was a new road racing team on the scene, and he knew that the Evo driver was a girl. Not that it mattered anyway. A racer was still a racer, despite their gender. He was also a close friend of Sayuki, the navigator half of Usui's Impact Blue, and she had also alerted him to the presence of the new team Emerald Fusion. In fact, she was more accurate in her information on the team, seeing as how unexpectedly, the driver of the white Spirit R FD, Nayth, had driven over to Usui alone and had challenged them to a simple race on whichever terms they desired. As it was, they made their deliberations and went ahead with the race, but were no match for the unobtrusive leader of Emerald Fusion. He'd walked away with a victory on Usui, and it wasn't even a real challenge.

Both Sayuki and Mako Satou, the driver of the Impact Blue combination, had been very insistent that if it were the white FD that he encountered, it was best not to challenge him, because he would lose for sure. Takeshi had echoed the same train of thought, but was also of the belief that the Emerald Fusion members with the more conspicuous cars were of lesser skill and thus, not too much of a challenge and an easy victory, if that's what he was aiming for.

Which is why he'd gotten the Evo driver to pull over.

He stood next to his beloved Civic and had his hands in his pockets, waiting for the Evo driver to get out of her car. The door flew open so quickly, it seemed like it would fly right off, and the girl who emerged slammed it shut rather fiercely before she stormed over to where he was standing.

If there was one thing Vanney was good at, it was masking her fear with other emotions, such as giddiness, indifference or her personal favorite, anger. Denis, being her boyfriend, knew damn well that when Vanney was angry (or hiding her fear under a mask of anger) it was a _very bad_ idea to confront her. It was also apparent that Shingo did not know that, or if he'd noticed her anger, he chose to ignore it. "What the hell do you want?" she snapped rather ferociously.

"You're a member of that new team Emerald Fusion, aren't you?" he asked casually.

She glared at him. "You can _read_, right? It says so on that sticker that's on my back windshield! What are you, blind?" she demanded as she pointed to her Emerald Fusion sticker.

"Oh, I saw it, all right. I just wanted to make sure. There's no harm in that, ne?"

The annoyance in her face was as plain as day. "I repeat my first question; what the hell do you want?" Her voice was no longer shrill and blatant; it was now calm and _very_ cold.

Shingo didn't seem the least bit perturbed. "Well… as you know, I am a member of the local racing team here, the Myougi Night Kids. And since you're also a road racer _and_ on our territory…"

"No," she answered firmly before he could even finish his sentence. He stared at her.

"What do you mean, 'no'? You chicken?" he taunted.

Vanney made a face. "Obviously you're not Takeshi Nakazato, so you must be Shingo Shouji. And obviously Nakazato didn't even bother telling you, since you're challenging _me_ to a race right now… There's a Night Kids versus Emerald Fusion race this Saturday on Myougi… it's your beloved team leader versus my boyfriend Denis." She shook her head. "So I won't be accepting your challenge. Simple as that."

Shingo grinned at her devilishly. "You know, you're kinda cute."

She snorted. "And you're butt-ugly. What's your point? Besides, I already have a boyfriend. He's the one racing this weekend."

It was his turn to snort. "What, you mean that fag with the pink Sil-Eighty?" He chortled. "You must have some really low standards, if you're dating a guy who has the balls to drive around in a car like _that_, let alone _race_ people and maintain some dignity."

Vanney raised one eyebrow at him. "Look who's talking. I've heard about your driving style, Shouji, and I find it hard to believe that you're _proud_ of racing like that. Where I come from, stunts like that would get your arse kicked in by your opponents afterwards, regardless of whether they won or not."

"Well, good thing I'm not from wherever you're from, then," he answered, his smile still in place.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she turned around to leave. Shingo took a few quick strides forward and grabbed her arm. "Hold it, I'm not done with you yet."

"Oh, I think you are," she answered succinctly.

Shingo cocked one eyebrow. "Really. What makes you say that, little one?"

Vanney didn't say anything; she merely swung her other fist around and punched the Night Kids' downhill specialist squarely in the jaw. He quickly let go of her and stepped backwards with a grunt, holding his jaw. She simply reached for the handle of her car door and opened it.

"See you on Saturday," was her final parting shot as she got into her Evo VII and drove off. Shingo watched her go, still holding his aching jaw, a smile spreading on his homely face.

"Heh, the kid packs quite a punch… I like girls like that…"

---

"Aniki, I don't get it. Why are we going to Myougi this weekend? I have better things to do than hang around and watch those damn Night Kids," Keisuke whined as he plopped down on Ryousuke's bed, watching his brother type away at his computer.

"Didn't you listen to me? Nakazato is racing the Sil-Eighty driver from Emerald Fusion. I'm curious to see how he fares in a race. After all…" here, he paused for emphasis, "the leader of Emerald Fusion, the one driving the Spirit R FD, went to Usui and supposedly trampled the ladies of Impact Blue without even trying… If _they_ weren't a challenge for him - and those ladies _are_ pretty good, from the reports I've been given, then it makes me wonder about the skill level of the lesser members. Hence why I'd like to check out the race. Besides, I already asked Nakazato if we could show up and watch the race. He says it's fine, as long as we don't disrupt him. Or start a fight with the other Night Kids."

Keisuke shook his head. "I heard it might rain on Saturday…"

Ryousuke didn't even turn around. "So?"

The blonde scratched his head. "Well… if it rains, Kenta might have another ego trip and challenge someone again…"

He still didn't turn around. "So?"

Keisuke sighed. "Never mind, aniki…"

Finally, Ryousuke turned around. "Keisuke," he began calmly, "if Kenta goes and challenges someone, then it's up to that someone to accept the challenge or not. And once that is done, it all depends on whether Kenta wins or loses. If he wins, well then good for him. If he loses, then that will teach him to keep him mouth shut."

"And the loss that Fujiwara handed him didn't teach him that?" the younger Takahashi retorted.

Ryousuke shrugged. "I don't know what goes on in Kenta's mind."

Keisuke sighed and stood up. "Sometimes, I don't know what goes on in _your_ mind," he muttered as he left his brother's room.

---

It was a very humid night when Saturday rolled around for the next race. The people who were gathered at Myougi were grumbling about the heat. Everyone had arrived on time, except for Nakazato, for some odd reason. Normally, he would be punctual, but he was late this time. Even Project D had arrived on time and was waiting for the race to start. Forget Project D; even Shingo was on time, and he was reported to be the tardy one of the Night Kids.

"Where the hell is he? He's _late_," Denis growled as he checked his watch for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

Vanney chuckled. "You sound like a fussy girlfriend being stood up by her boyfriend on a date."

"Hey, I never have to worry about you being late. You're always so damn early!"

"And you're complaining?" she countered with a smile.

Keisuke laughed as he stood not far from where she was, off to the side with Kenta and Hiroshi. "She got him there." Hiroshi merely smiled and Kenta just snorted and looked away.

There was a familiar engine roar and the black GT-R Nissan Skyline appeared at the top of the mountain pass and positioned himself at the starting line before the leader of the Night Kids emerged from his car looking extremely frazzled indeed.

"I'm sorry," he spoke quickly, addressing Denis. "There was an emergency at work and I couldn't leave at my usual time. Have you been waiting long?"

"Not really… but we had no way of telling whether you were going to show up or not… so…"

Nakazato made a face. "What are you talking about? I called Shingo from work and told him to tell all of you that I'd be a little late!" He glared at Shingo. "Why didn't you tell them?"

Shingo made a face. "I'm not your goddamn secretary, Takeshi."

"He's got a point there," Vanney added and winced when Takeshi glared at her. Nayth snickered, causing Takeshi to glare at him afterwards, but he covered it up by coughing loudly.

"So… are we having this race, or no?" Denis demanded somewhat impatiently. Takeshi checked his watch and saw that it was close to ten-thirty in the evening. He nodded at the Sil-Eighty driver

:You have a point. Okay then, let's get ready." He turned and went back to his car and got inside. Denis didn't do so, well not immediately anyway. He turned to Vanney and nodded once, whereupon she stepped out onto the course and stood in between both cars and a little in front. 

"The rules are simple; a race to the bottom of the mountain pass, where the finish line is indicated by the timekeepers designated. The first to pass the finish line is the winner. With that done, the race will start on the count of ten." She raised her hands. "Ten… nine… eight… seven… six…"

There was a roar of engines as both Takeshi and Denis revved their engines while Vanney was doing the countdown. She continued, unperturbed. "… five… four… three… two… one… _go!"_ She dropped both her arms and both cars sped past her, creating enough wind for her dark hair to billow like a cloud behind her. She stood there for a while as she turned around and watched them go, then she shrugged. "Well, that's that…" Then she walked over to the side of the road, where Nayth handed her a walkie-talkie and nodded.

"You keep in touch with our timekeepers and see what's happening. I'm going to go down after them at a slower pace. Simon will be at the bottom of the mountain pass and he'll keep in contact with you to tell you about the results. You'll be fine here?" he asked her.

"Oh please Nayth, I'm not some wussy kid. I'll be fine." She gave him a playful shove. "You run along now." He smiled and saluted her before he got into his FD and drove off. She watched him go off in silence, then she simply hooked the walkie-talkie onto her waistband and promptly forgot about it. She crossed her arms across her chest and let out a sigh when all of a sudden, someone's hands came down and planted themselves on her bare shoulders. She went rigid at the moment of impact and didn't move.

"So… how's the little Evo driver this evening?" came Shingo's devilish voice as he poked his head out to look at her from his vantage point behind her. "The humidity must be extreme for you, hm?"

Vanney didn't say anything, she merely inhaled sharply and slowly expelled the air from her lungs before she unfolded her arms and grabbed Shingo by the chin rather fiercely, digging her nails into his skin. He let go of her almost immediately and started whining at her to let go of his face while Keisuke and the other Project D members looked on in amusement.

"Shouji… leave the girl alone, for chrissakes. It's obvious you're bothering her," Keisuke spoke out, a small grin dominating his face. Shingo grunted and pulled away from her iron grip, rubbing his face and glaring at her. She didn't say anything; she merely snorted and shook her head. Taking the cue from the younger Takahashi, the Night Kids downhill specialist moved away from Vanney and went to rejoin his teammates, who either mocked him for unsuccessfully attracting Vanney's attention or sympathized with him for being on the receiving end of a woman's wrath.

"Thank you, by the way," Vanney spoke after Shingo was out of earshot. "I wasn't sure if I could take care of him this time."

"Ah… he's confronted you before?" Keisuke queried as he came to stand next to her, Kenta following close behind, a scowl beginning to form on his tanned face.

She shrugged. "Earlier on in the week, I ran into him while I was driving around here. Apparently, he thinks I'm cute and is rather persistent in emphasizing that point to me. While I'm flattered, I don't really like the persistence… especially since I have a boyfriend."

"Well, you know what they say… the ones who are taken are usually the most desirable," he commented before he smiled. "So… you like yellow cars too, huh?"

Vanney stared at her Evo VII for inspiration. "Well yeah, sure. I mean, everywhere you go, you see red cars, or black cars, or white cars…they're common. Yellow is starting to become common, but it's still out in a category of its own, so I picked it. I mean, if I _reall_y wanted to stand out, I'd have gotten a pink Evo VII to match Denis's pink Sil-Eighty… but that would've been too weird… especially with the Emerald Fusion sticker being green and all. I wanted it to complement my car."

"Nice choice. What about the specs for your Evo? Any mods?"

"No need. It's a powerhouse just as it is. I mean, a stock Evo VII has 276hp. That's a lot already. Why add more?" She shook her head. "Besides, gas alone for that thing is insane. No way I'm gonna waste more money on it than I actually should."

Keisuke laughed. "At least you're practical about your racing maintenance."

Vanney was about to respond when there was a crackling noise coming from her walkie-talkie. She grabbed it off her belt and answered it. "What's up?"

"Denis just passed the R32 on the big turn… Apparently, the R32 turned too wide and ended up nicking the wall. How smart was _that?_" the voice answered, laughing.

She chuckled. "Well… that's his problem then, ne? Anyway, just radio me again when the winner is determined, all right?" After hearing the confirmation, she hooked the walkie-talkie back onto her waistband again. "And that's that."

"Looks like your boyfriend is gonna win this one, huh? Bet you got something special planned for him," Keisuke spoke, a smile curling at the edges of his mouth as he elbowed her gently. Vanney stared at him and made a face.

"Of course I do; it's just none of your business. And of course, it's still too soon to say. He could still have his arse handed to him by Nakazato in that GT-R, if he's not careful. But considering how his pink Sil-Eighty is his pride and joy, I think he'll be fine." She yawned, then sniffed the air and made a face. "It's going to rain soon… like… _very_ soon…"

Keisuke had seen her sniff the air; he sniffed the air as well and wrinkled his nose. "I can't tell… how can _you_ tell?" he queried.

"That musty humid smell… it's getting stronger… When I lived back in Canada, my dad used to sniff the air and tell me that it would rain soon… and within a half-hour it would begin to pour. After he'd said it a few times, I've learned how to recognize the smell. Just watch… in about half an hour, it'll start pouring down like crazy."

He stared at her in silence for a brief moment before he shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Kenta edged closer to Keisuke and whispered in his ear; "I think _she's_ crazy. Talking as if she can identify the weather patterns by smell alone." Unfortunately for him, Vanney heard him and she gave him an evil glare, but she said nothing. Keisuke merely moved away from Kenta and shook his head.

"But she does have a point… there _is_ a distinctive musty smell in the air… and if she says it means rain is on the way - and it's very likely considering this amount of humidity - then I believe her." He then patted Kenta on the head like a master would to his faithful dog. "Sometimes, the weirdest explanations make the most sense." He then changed the subject. "So how long have you been in Emerald Fusion? Or rather, how long has your team actually been together?"

Vanney scratched her arm for a bit before responding. "Well… officially, as a team, we've only been together for a year… but we've known each other long before that. Like… I was the last one to get my car… when we had a gathering and I showed up in my Evo VII, they were all really impressed and all - and why wouldn't they, the Evo VII _is_ a nice car - so we decided then and there that we should form a racing team. Now obviously, me being the last one to get a car, I'm the worst driver in the team… but they said for someone who has only been driving for a year, I'm pretty decent in my skill level."

"I'll bet it's only because of your Evo VII… I'll bet with any other car, you would be worse than you are right now!" Kenta cut in sharply, causing Vanney to narrow her eyes at him.

"My car has nothing to do with it. Granted, it's a powerful car, but it's the driver's skill that really matters… I mean, look at Simon, the second best driver in Emerald Fusion… he drives a Hachi-Roku Levin. Now talk about an outdated car… it technically should stand no chance against any high-powered car, like a GT-R, or an RX-7, or my Evo… but he's a bloody speed demon in that thing… technically on the uphill, I should leave him biting my dust, but it's the other way around…" She eyed Kenta suspiciously. "And _you_… what do _you_ drive?"

He wordlessly pointed to his Silvia Q S-14, which was parked relatively close to Keisuke's bright yellow FD. Vanney took one look at it and kept a neutral expression. Keisuke watched her carefully and as her eyes met his for a brief moment, he knew exactly what she wanted to do.

"Go right ahead, Vanney-chan. No one's stopping you."

"Nani?" Kenta was perplexed.

"Before I say anything else, I just want to ask you a few things… what mods did you install in your car?" she asked, looking directly at Kenta. Her suspicious look was replaced with a look of perplexity.

"The usual… muffler change, side skirts, front and rear spoilers, rear bumper… um…" here, he paused to think, then continued, "cool intake system installed, suspension change… light flywheel… um… I think that's pretty much it." He stared back at Vanney. "Why?"

"Well… because your S-14 is a perfect example of the point I was trying to make before… a highly underpowered car can be absolutely dangerous in the hands of the right driver… and since you're a member of the Akagi RedSuns, I'll make the assumption that you're fairly good behind the wheel of your S-14, no?"

Keisuke merely snorted at that comment. Both Kenta and Vanney looked at him, although only Kenta spoke. "Keisuke-san?"

"Kenta still needs a lot of practice… so I wouldn't say necessarily that he's _good_… I'd say he's decent," the blonde answered, addressing Vanney. Kenta blushed a deep scarlet and his eyes bugged.

"Keisuke-san! I _am_ good! I'll bet you that I'm better than her!" he whined, pointing a finger at Vanney, who merely cocked an eyebrow. Before she could comment, her radio went off again.

"Yeah?"

"The race is over... Denis won!!" someone's voice crackled through the walkie-talkie. Her eyebrows shot up and she brought the radio close to her mouth.

"Really? Excellent! Well, wait a bit... 'cause I'm on my way, okay?" She simply stuck the radio back on her waistband and turned to leave, but Kenta took a few strides forward and grabbed her arm. "Hold it!" he cried out. Everyone around them turned to look at them. Keisuke then grabbed Kenta's wrist.

"No, Kenta," he spoke firmly. "Leave her alone."

"Keisuke-san," he answered in between clenched teeth, his glare never leaving Vanney's unperturbed gaze, "stay out of this."

Vanney cleared her throat. "Um… a quick question… why are you holding on to my arm like that?" she demanded. Just then, there was a peal of thunder and rain started to fall on them in sheets. Kenta continued to glare at her amid the falling rain.

"What perfect timing," he murmured quietly before he let his voice rise loud enough for everyone to hear, "I challenge you to a race right here, right now!"

---

Well, that's the end of Part 3/Chapter 3/whatever you want to call it

AN: Since Denis, Simon and Vanney are actually French Quebecois (or in Vanney's case, is able to speak French Quebecois), I'd initially put some of the dialogue snippets in - you guessed it - French Quebecois, but since I doubt everyone here can understand that, I translated it into English. In future chapters, they will be translated as well, but I will also include the original dialogue at the end, simply because I just find that I lose their characters a bit if they speak it in English. (particularly in Simon's case, since his real English isn't exactly picture perfect) =P

Anyhow, I'll keep updating as soon as I can.

Keep watching the skis... I mean skies! (god bless those Simpsons)

~BoomChish


	4. Chapter 4

You guys know the drill. I don't own Initial D, its characters or anything else pertaining to the anime/manga. Emerald Fusion is deliberately a knockoff of an Initial D: Arcade Stage group that I hang out with, and yes, those are the cars we drive in the game. :P (I know, we're pitiful). They know who they are, and they gave me permission to write this. (The song lyrics used in this chapter are the property of their respective owners and in no way do I claim credit for their creation)

Summary: Iketani sees four mysterious cars drive past him on Akina late one night. They are the gaijin group Emerald Fusion and they're in town to face the competition. Are they really a challenge, though...?

Initial D Fusion Stage

by BoomChish (boomchish@2die4.com)

Everyone stared in absolute shock as Kenta and Vanney were simply staring at each other amid the pouring rain. With one swift move, Vanney freed herself from Kenta's grasp and glared at Project D's timekeeper with disdain.

"As much as I hate sounding like a whiney sissy girl at a time like this… I just bought this shirt today… it cost me a _lot_ of money… and since you've held me in place like that before I could go for shelter, it's now thoroughly soaked… so you know what… I _accept_ your challenge, rain boy. May you have cause to regret it!"

"Wait a minute, what the heck is going on here?" Shingo demanded as he stepped forward. "You refuse a challenge from me, but you accept one from _that_ runt? No fair!"

Vanney was already on her radio, talking to what appeared to be Simon, "Hey, there's been a change of plans… there's another race now…"[1]

__

"What? Another race? How come? And it's who against who?"[2]

"It's me against that annoying little twit from Project D… You know, the one who follows Keisuke Takahashi around like a little lost puppy? Yeah, him… like, he got pissed at me and just challenged me to a race right now… yeah… yeah, I'll do my best… and I'll see you at the bottom of the mountain, okay? Bye."[3] She then quietly made her way to her Evo VII and brought it to the starting line. Kenta did the same with his bright orange S-14.

"This is insane," Keisuke muttered.

"You're telling me… Takeshi is gonna get pissed when he finds out that there's another impromptu race going on…" Shingo added, then glared at Keisuke. "Besides, what the hell is up with your little shadow boy anyway? The way he looked, he looked really pissed at her… as if she'd dealt a blow to his manhood or something…"

"You know Shouji… you have the power to stop this race," Keisuke began slowly as he shook his head, purposely evading his answer, but Shingo merely grinned at him.

"Yeah, I _could_… but I'd rather not… besides, I have the feeling that your little rain boy might be given a harsh lesson in chivalry by the Evo driver… Be_sides_, I'm curious in seeing what the little lady can do behind the wheel of her car." The Night Kids downhill specialist smiled at the FD driver, ignoring the scowl that was firmly plastered on his face. When Keisuke didn't respond, Shingo shrugged and went to stand in between the two cars and raised his hands, all while grinning and winking at Vanney in her Evo. She shook her fist impatiently at him in response. Kenta merely had his eyes riveted on the road in front of him, occasionally glancing at Shingo in anticipation for the countdown.

"Aniki… I told you…" Keisuke muttered to himself as Shingo began the countdown. Takumi, who had stayed at the top of the mountain pass with Keisuke, had shrugged selflessly. "Do you think Ryousuke-san knows that there's another race between Kenta and Emerald Fusion's Evo driver?"

"Well, he should know by now… I certainly doubt that whoever it was who responded to Vanney-chan's radio message didn't inform the people at the bottom of the mountain pass…"

Shingo was just finishing the countdown, "… _go_… _san… ni… ichi…GO!"_ With that, both cars lurched forwards and began racing down Myougi's mountain pass. Vanney had deliberately slowed down at the start, letting Kenta assume the lead and she fell into place behind him, which only caused Shingo to frown as both drivers disappeared from view.

"That's a crock and a half… why is she letting that whiney kid win?" he demanded to no one in particular as he walked back to join the Night Kids. Keisuke shook his head as he saw the taillights of Vanney's Evo VII vanish from plain view.

"Do you think Kenta will win this race?" Takumi queried.

"Honestly? Even though Vanney-chan doesn't seem that skilled to me… I doubt it…"

---

"_WHAT?!_ You mean there's _another_ race going on right now?!" Takeshi raged as he heard the news at the bottom of the mountain pass. Simon kept his face impassive, as did Denis, while Nayth and Ryousuke both looked amused. The leader of the Night Kids swore aloud and started pacing around angrily. "Damn Shingo! Why didn't he stop it?"

"Well, I can't really explain Shingo's reasons for allowing the race to happen, but I suppose I _could _shed some light on why this race happened in the first place."

Takeshi stopped pacing and glared at the leader of the RedSuns and Project D. "For your sake, it better be good!"

Ryousuke couldn't help but chuckle. "As you probably know, Kenta is the RedSuns' rain specialist. He specializes in racing in the rain. Well… from what I understood from Vanney-chan's conversation with Simon," here, he glanced over at the men of Emerald Fusion, who merely stared back at him without saying a word before he continued, "and from what I know about him, Kenta got mad at her… and when the rain started to fall, it was a perfect opportunity for him… so he challenged her to a race."

"That still doesn't explain why Shingo allowed this race to happen…" Takeshi growled furiously.

"Maybe I can shed light on that," Nayth answered as he stepped forward. Both Ryousuke and Takeshi stared at him. (well, maybe _stared_ is an understatement for the Night Kids leader. _Glared_ would suitably fit the bill here). When neither man answered, he continued on, "When Vanney came back after a trip to Mt. Myougi, she'd told us," here, he gestured to Denis and Simon, "that she'd run into the second best driver of the Myougi Night Kids… who I'll guess is Shingo. She then went on to mention that he really came onto her… like… even when she'd made it clear that she had a boyfriend. From what she told us, she'd ended up punching him in the jaw just so that he'd leave her alone. So it's possible that, so that Shingo could somehow get into Vanney's good graces, he allowed this race to happen. Makes sense, ne?"

"Why does everyone keep trying to hit on my girlfriend?" Denis whined to no one in particular. No one bothered answering him either.

Takeshi allowed himself a small chuckle. "Well, at least now I know why Shingo was complaining that he got punched in the face last Tuesday. He'd said he'd gotten into a fight with a solo racer in the area, but the punch wasn't severe enough, so I was suspicious. At least now I know who _really_ threw that punch." He chuckled again. "Oh well…" He folded his arms across his chest. "This may be an interesting ending to an otherwise dreary evening…"

---

Kenta felt somewhat elated and somewhat worried when Vanney slowed down and let him assume the lead. He was elated because he was in the lead, and that if his car wasn't as powerful as hers, at least he could block her on the way down. He was worried as well, though… simply _because_ of the sheer fact that her Evo VII is more powerful than his S-14. Even _if_ her skills didn't quite match his, she could certainly pass him if given enough time for her accelerator to kick in.

He quickly resolved that he would _not_ give her that time…

Since the first part of Myougi wasn't really that curved, Kenta simply coasted along, making sure to deliberately block the Evo VII when it attempted to pass him on either side. With the rain reducing traction on the road, he managed to slightly pull away from the Evo VII as the first curve came up, but as soon as he came out of the first curve, he was faced with another curve in the opposite direction… not to mention Vanney was still on his heels and she didn't seem to be showing any inclination of letting him get away either.

In all technicality, Kenta had the advantage of the familiarity of the course, since he'd raced against Fujiwara on this very course. It was highly unlikely that Vanney had ever raced on Myougi before, so she would be racing on the track for the first time. And given that it was raining _and_ that it was nighttime, she didn't really have much of an advantage, other than the fact that her Evo VII was obviously more powerful than his S-14.

As more constant curves met him on the way down, Kenta started to feel a little unsure of himself. His arms were getting tired of constantly jerking the wheel left and right, not to mention the persistent glare of Vanney's headlights following him after every turn. 

_No,_ he scolded himself sharply. _No, I can do this… and I _will _do this! I _will _beat that stupid girl and I'll show Keisuke-san that I'm good! I'll show him that I'm just as noteworthy, if not as good, as that Fujiwara boy!_

As the road started to straighten out and he was faced with less pressing curves, Kenta was able to relax a bit. Only a bit, because Vanney wasn't letting up from her position behind him. 

Kenta glanced at her briefly, then tried to peer closely at her in the rearview mirror, before he abruptly turned the wheel as a short curve came up. Were his eyes deceiving him, or was she _singing _and _grooving_ in her car while _driving?_

---

_Running in the nineties,_

It's a new way I like to be 

I'm just running in the nineties

Come on baby run to me 

We are running in the nineties, 

It's a new way to set me free 

I'm just running in the nineties 

Yes I wanna know, yes I wanna see

Vanney was bobbing her head to the Eurobeat as she kept her car right behind Kenta's S-14. If she remembered correctly, there was a steep curve coming up soon. If she didn't pass him then, she'd have difficulty doing so later on. She _then_ recalled Nayth telling her something about the gutters that were placed alongside the roads to catch falling rainwater…

---

Kenta let out a small sigh as he remembered the sharp curve that was quickly approaching. It was a very difficult turn to take at full speed. Last time, he nearly spun out of control at this curve, but that was against Fujiwara, who was obviously a very skilled driver. He still wasn't sure if he could say the same for the Evo driver.

He carefully brought his car out to the outside, with the intention of turning towards the inside as the curve approached him, but as he went for the outside, the Evo VII pulled up alongside him and passed him with the intention of taking the inside. His eyes widened at the car passing him. _Is she insane? There's no way that she can take the curve by taking the inside… she'll end up oversteering and hitting the far wall! Not even I'm dumb enough to risk that!_

He spoke too soon.

Indeed the Evo VII was approaching the curve very fast from the inside, but it suddenly turned into the corner and the nose of the Evo came very close to the inner guardrail, and _rode it all the way down the curve_ until the road straightened out. When the road straightened, so did the Evo VII, lurching a bit to the other side while Vanney tried to calibrate her car, then it simply continued on, unperturbed.

"Whaaaaaaaaat?" Kenta cried out loud as he tried his best to drift into the curve. He succeeded, amazingly, but he was still in shock at the strange manner that Vanney had drifted into that sharp curve, not to mention how she managed to ride the guardrail all the way until the curve straightened out.

And if that wasn't already bad, she was now in the lead… and getting progressively farther as each second rolled by. There was no way for him to catch up now.

_Damnit…_ he cursed to himself as he drove on after her. _How the hell did she do that anyway?_

Keisuke-san… I'm sorry…

---

Takeshi squinted as he saw a pair of headlights appearing from the darkness amid the falling rain. The others saw it too and tried to discern who was the winner.

Suddenly, Simon let out a huge whoop. "It's Vanney! I recognize the headlights of her Evo! It's her! She won!"[4] he cried out gleefully. Sure enough, as the car came closer, they could see the bright, vibrant color of Vanney's Evo VII. She simply coasted down and past the finish line as Kenta's bright orange S-14 appeared in view. 

Vanney slowed down and pulled the Evo VII over to the side before she killed the engine and got out, carrying a thin jacket with her. She unceremoniously pulled it on and threw up the hood before joining the other members of Emerald Fusion, muttering under her breath. "God damnit… my new shirt is all soaked…"[5]

__

Denis put an arm around her. "Hey, it's not so bad… at least you won!"[6]

Ryousuke walked over to the team and nodded at Vanney while smiling. "Congratulations, Vanney-chan."

She wrinkled her nose as Kenta parked his car and came over the join them. "Thank you," she managed to answer politely.

Kenta was not so polite. "How the hell did you do that?" he demanded shrilly. 

She looked at him and shrugged. "Do what?"

"That curve… you took the inside and rode it all the way out… how the hell did you do that?"

Ryousuke's eyebrows shot up. "You pulled off a gutter run? Now that's definitely impressive. On which curve?" he queried politely.

Kenta turned to face his team leader. "That sharp one in the middle of the course…" He shook his head. "I was taking the outside, and she just came through on the inside, then rode the curve out and took the lead." He stamped his foot. "Damnit, if I'd known that I could use the gutters to my advantage, I'd have used it too!"

Vanney shook her head this time. "It was a fluke… I'm pretty sure if I tried it again, I wouldn't be so lucky… Also considering, you gave me enough space to maneuver around you before that curve for me to sufficiently pull it off." She scratched her head absently. "You took the outside with the intention of shifting into the inside as the turn began... had you boxed me in before I passed you, I would've had no room to maneuver through and I probably _would_ have ended up crashing into the wall…" She suddenly smiled. "As it is, you saved me a bundle in car insurance and my life. Thank you!"

Kenta merely glared at her and said nothing. Takeshi laughed aloud at her comment. Ryousuke allowed himself a chuckle, Nayth and Simon smirked and Denis hugged his girlfriend fiercely. The leader of Project D then pulled out his cellular phone and called his brother at the top of the mountain pass to tell him of the news.

Nayth then turned to his teammates. "Okay you guys… I think we've all had enough racing for one night… Let's all go home."

"I need to take a shower… and do my laundry…" Vanney sniffed before she faced Ryousuke, Kenta and Takeshi one more time. "Anyhow, good night to you guys." With that, she simply walked over to her Evo and got back into the driver's seat and sighed. Denis made a face and went to his own car and got in. Simon did the same.

Nayth was the last to leave. He nodded once at Ryousuke and at Takeshi. The leader of the Night Kids was the first to speak, "I gravely underestimated Denis… he's pretty lethal in that Sil-Eighty of his… guess the color's just a screen to throw people off, huh?"

"The same way Simon's Levin is a screen to throw people off," Nayth admitted honestly.

"And what about Vanney-chan's Evo VII? That's supposed to be a screen for what?" Kenta demanded, despite the sharp glare Ryousuke sent in his direction. Nayth chuckled.

"Nah, Vanney just likes the Lancer Evolution series… so she bought a LanEvo… that's all. Nothing special, no hidden skills… just a girl and her car…"

"She's pretty good for just a girl and her car…" Ryousuke commented.

Nayth turned to leave. "All I'll say is this: she certainly surprised me tonight. Good night." And with that, the leader of Emerald Fusion got into his prized Spirit R FD and drove off, the other three members following him afterwards.

"What did he mean by that?" Kenta demanded, looking at his team leader. 

Takeshi chuckled. "From what I think, he means that she sucks at racing… so if you lost to _her…_ it must mean that _you_ suck at racing…" He chuckled again and turned away. Kenta's nostrils flared as he took a step towards Takeshi, but Ryousuke held him back. 

"That's enough Kenta. You lost fair and square," the leader of Project D answered stiffly before he turned his head to stare at the mountain pass, waiting for his younger brother and Fujiwara to arrive.

---

"So… she _won_…" Shingo repeated for what must have been the third time as he sat across from Takeshi as they sat in a small café, drinking (invariably enough) coffee. Takeshi was beginning to get annoyed with the way Shingo kept repeating himself. Four days had already passed since both races on Myougi… and Shingo still couldn't drop the subject of the race between Vanney and Keisuke Takahashi's obedient little puppy who drove the S-14.

"Yes, she _won_. She pulled off a gutter run at the Grande Curve and left the little boy eating her dust. I've said that three times already. Weren't you listening to me, Shingo?" _As if he ever listens to me anyway, _Takeshi thought to himself sourly.

Shingo leaned back in his seat and chuckled. "I knew she'd beat that whiney little twit. Come to think of it, I wonder how that kid got into the RedSuns in the first place, anyway…"

Takeshi took a sip of his coffee. "How the hell should I know? I'm not Takahashi…" he scowled.

He merely grinned. "You know… I'd like to race that girl myself one of these days… see how good she _really_ is…"

The Night Kids leader paused in mid-sip. "Shingo, I swear, if you do and you pull off any of that gum tape death match crap, or any of your bumper cars braking, I _will_ beat the stuffing out of you. It's one thing to do it to someone like Fujiwara, it's another to do it to a girl who's obviously less skilled." 

Shingo shook his head and chuckled again. "Oh don't worry your little head off, Takeshi. I won't hurt her. I _do_ have certain standards in my driving, you know…"

_Riiiiight…_ Takeshi thought to himself scornfully as he drank more coffee.

---

So that concludes Chapter 4, I guess… O_o

Original Dialogue:

[1] Vanney: "Eille… ya un changement de plan… il ya un autre race maintenant."

[2] Simon: "Quoi? Un autre race? Comment ça? Et c'est qui contre qui?"

[3] Vanney: "C'est moi contre cet osti de retarder de Project D… tse, celui qui traîne en arrière de Keisuke Takahashi comme un chiot perdu? Ouin, lui… faque, ye devenu fâché contre moi pis il m'a challenger juste maintenant… ouin… ouin, je ferais mon mieux… et je te verrai en bas du montagne, okay? Bye."

[4] Simon: "C'est Vanney! Je connais les lumières de son Evo! C'est elle! Elle a gagner!"

[5] Vanney: "Osti caliss de marde… mon nouveau chandail est toute trempée…"

[6] Denis: "Eille, c'est pas si pire que ça… au moins t'as gagner!"

AN: When I first wrote this part, I hadn't really seen the whole map of Shin-Myougi, so I'd assumed that, like Circuit-Myogi from Arcade Stage, the Grande Curve existed. So in the original version, Kenta had referred to it as The Grande Curve. Then, after having seen that part of the anime and playing Initial D: Special Stage, I realized my error and went back to correct it, although I did leave in the gutters in Myougi… (does Myougi even have gutters? O_o)

Anyhow, that's that. It is now my intention to play video games for several hours.

See you when I'm done crashing into the walls on Enna Pass. =P

~BoomChish


	5. Chapter 5

You guys know the drill. I don't own Initial D, its characters or anything else pertaining to the anime/manga. Emerald Fusion is deliberately a knockoff of an Initial D: Arcade Stage group that I hang out with, and yes, those are the cars we drive in the game. :P (I know, we're pitiful). They know who they are, and they gave me permission to write this. 

Summary: Iketani sees four mysterious cars drive past him on Akina late one night. They are the gaijin group Emerald Fusion and they're in town to face the competition. Are they really a challenge, though...?

Initial D Fusion Stage

by BoomChish (boomchish@2die4.com)

Vanney took in a deep breath of air as she walked to her car carrying one shopping bag full of assorted stuff, humming softly to herself. It was a beautiful Friday midday and she had promised to meet Denis at some restaurant in half an hour from her current time, which was five minutes to noon. As she walked across the semi-full parking lot, she noticed someone she recognized. Even though his back was turned to her, she recognized him.

Kenji was calmly making his way to his white 180SX after a brief trip to the local electronic store to preorder some equipment when all of a sudden, two hands clamped over his eyes and a cheery female voice chirped, "Guess who!"

He remained silent for a while, racking his brain for any girl who would pull off the 'guess who' move on him… and only one came to mind. "Uhh… Mogi-chan?"

"Who's Mogi-chan?" came the immediate response afterwards. Surprised by the response, Kenji grabbed both her hands and pulled them away from his eyes, then turned around to face the speaker… and was doubly surprised to see who it was.

"Oi… Vanney-chan… um… nice to see you again…" He wasn't sure on _why_ Emerald Fusion's Evo driver was being extremely friendly towards him, but he decided not to dwell too much on it. "So… uh… what's up?"

"I was just doing a little shopping before I meet Denis at twelve twenty-five. I figure I deserve a break from all that scouting," she explained.

"Scouting?" Kenji repeated, scratching his head.

"Yeah… being the worst member of the team, it's my job to scout around and look for people worthy enough for Nayth, Simon or sometimes Denis to challenge…" Here, she sighed. "But I think I've already checked out all of Gunma… Are there any other teams in neighboring prefectures?"

He suddenly became apprehensive. "Um… well… there's one in particular out in Nikko, in Tochigi… but I wouldn't suggest going there… That's where you'll find the Irohazaka Emperors… an all-male all-LanEvo team… if you were to go there, you'd be an easy target for them."

"Well, _I _don't intend on challenging them _or_ accepting any of their challenges… I'm just supposed to check out which teams are where and see if they're worthy enough of a challenge from one of the other Emerald Fusion members." She smiled, showing a row of even white teeth. "As I like to say; I'm just here for show… although I do have _some_ racing skills…" She then tapped her chin thoughtfully. "So… the Irohazaka Emperors… at Mt. Irohazaka, hm? Interesting… I heard that that's where Kegon Falls can be found… supposedly it's a nice place… I think I'll stop by there later on today…"

Kenji looked as if he was about to have a heart attack. "Didn't you listen to me? Those Emperors aren't particularly polite towards women, least of all women who are road racers and who drive around in a LanEvo. You might be in serious danger if you go there!" he protested.

Vanney stared blankly at him before, unbelievably, starting to laugh. Kenji just stared back at her, dumbfounded until she playfully swatted him across the arm. "You know, you're kinda cute when you get all fussy like that." She giggled, causing him to blush, before she continued, "And besides, I've been dealing with impolite people all my life. I can take care of myself."

"Even an entire group of middle-aged chauvinistic men?" Kenji queried.

She smiled at him. "I've dealt with worse." She then checked her watch. "Hmm… I should probably get going… Denis is usually the tardy one, so I like being there early, if not on time. See ya!" And with that, she merely turned and walked away to her car. Kenji watched her go; as she pulled her car out of the parking lot, she waved goodbye, then disappeared down the road.

---

He'd wasted no time in going to the GS gas station where the other Speed Stars and Takumi worked to reveal this latest bit of news. Iketani was absolutely horrified when he'd heard of Vanney's intentions.

"She's going to confront Emperor by herself? And you didn't try any harder to dissuade her?!" he demanded in shock and slight fury. Kenji merely stared back worriedly at his friend.

"She was very determined to go and see for herself. What would you have wanted me to do, knock her out and drag her here?" he countered.

"Kenji has a point, Iketani-sempai," Takumi commented lazily. He then yawned. "Besides, I doubt she'd accept a challenge from Emperor anyway… She doesn't strike me as someone who gets involved in races with more experienced racers… seems to me like she takes care of the smaller fish and lets the boys take care of the bigger ones… I mean come on… each member of Emerald Fusion has raced at least once in the Gunma prefecture… their leader Nayth raced against Impact Blue and won, the guy in the Hachi-Roku Levin won against Keisuke-san, Vanney-chan's boyfriend won against Takeshi Nakazato and she took on Kenta Nakamura from the RedSuns. If you compare her opponent to the others, hers was much lesser skilled."

"So? At least she won," Itsuki pointed out matter-of-factly.

"That's just my point though… she won't mind accepting challengers from lesser skilled racers because she doesn't have much skill herself. But from Emperor, she'll most likely refuse… And even though they are chauvinistic and somewhat intimidating, they wouldn't coerce her into racing them. Even they have certain standards in dealing with people."

"I hope you're right, Takumi…" Iketani mused worriedly. Kenji didn't add anything else.

---

The sun was still in the sky when Vanney was walking to her car in the parking lot. It had been a long and stressing drive from the bottom of Mt. Irohazaka all the way to the top and now she was ready to go home and take a long shower. Of course she would have to go back _down_ Irohazaka, but somehow, the downhill drive usually isn't as bad as the uphill drive. She was almost at her car when she heard a voice behind her. 

"Hey you…"

Vanney stopped in her tracks and turned around. There was a man standing behind her with long dark hair slicked back into a ponytail. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. Nevertheless, these assumptions didn't assuage her at all, so she looked around a bit, before she faced the man and pointed to herself. "Uh… are you talking to me?"

He came up to stand before her. He was about a good seven or eight inches taller than she was, which didn't say much, since Vanney stood at five foot one. He pointed to her Evo VII without much ceremony. "That's your car, right?"

She stared at her car for a second, then nodded slowly. "Yeah… and?"

He merely stared back at her, his expression flat. "You're that girl driver from that new team in Gunma… Emerald Fusion, right?"

"Uh… yeah… and?"

He suddenly smirked. "You must be a pretty good racer if you drive an Evo…" he commented.

She stared back at him. "Uh… no… I just drive an Evo because I think they're cool, that's all…"

He made a face at her answer, but didn't reply right away. Vanney was starting to get nervous under his glare, so she'd been carefully distancing herself from him by taking small steps backwards. He didn't appear to notice.

"In any case… I'm Seiji Iwaki of the Irohazaka Emperors… and since you're here on our turf, I challenge you to a race on my home track. What do you say?"

"Wait, wait, wait… your home track is Irohazaka… that freakishly winding track full of hairpins back there is your _home course_? You can actually _race_ on that?" she demanded, her voice swirling upwards. "I nearly crashed my car coming up that damn thing and you want me to _race_ you down the mountain pass? Forget it! I'd like to live long enough to have children and grandchildren, you know. I _do_ have a desire to live!"

Seiji scoffed and folded his arms across his chest. "So I take that as a no?"

"You damn right you can take that as a no. There ain't no way in hell I'm racing down _that _mountain pass!" she countered fiercely.

He chuckled. "So you're a chicken, huh?"

Vanney scowled. "You can shove me in a bucket, slap a KFC logo on it and sell me for twenty bucks, if that answers your question," she'd retorted snidely. That comment only served to confuse Seiji, for the smirk quickly vanished off his face and he scratched his head in confusion.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Never mind. It's a gaijin joke… just forget it."

He stared at her with a confused look. "But you're not gaijin…"

Vanney made a face. "Of course I'm not gaijin. Do I _look_ gaijin to you?" she demanded harshly. "If you know about Emerald Fusion, then you must surely know that the rest of my teammates are all gaijin. So I've learned their slang and lingo."

He didn't comment for a while until he'd finally noticed the distance between them, which had suddenly tripled since he'd first accosted her. "Why are you all the way over there now?"

She didn't respond, she merely glared at him. He shook his head and sighed in frustration. "Now come on; there's no need to be _that_ afraid. It's not like I'm going to eat you or anything like that."

Vanney's eyes went wide, then she made a face. "I was afraid you were going to say that!" and she took another step backwards. Seiji merely stared at her in confusion, not understanding why his words had such a weird effect on her until he mentally repeated them to himself over and over… then the message finally sank in. He had a disgusted look on his face, but that didn't stop Vanney from maintaining her distance from him.

"I didn't mean it that way!" he roared, his face turning red. At that, she finally snickered.

"I know. Just messin' with you." She smiled and winked before she turned away. "Anyhow, I'm out. I'll talk to my teammates; maybe one of them might be interested in coming here for a race. Not me though. I got other stuff to take care of." She only took one step towards her car, however, when she felt him grab her arm rather firmly.

"I'm not finished with you yet," he growled.

Vanney turned to face him and this time, her expression was a mix of amusement and false neutrality. "Oh dear… this scene is depressingly familiar… I do believe the last fellow who attempted to restrain me got a bruised jaw for his trouble."

"So what are you going to do? Punch me in the balls?" Seiji taunted.

She paused. "You know… that sounds like a _great_ idea! Hold still," she instructed as she balled her free hand into a fist and drew it back. Seiji quickly let go of her like a hot potato.

"You're insane!" he declared as he took a step back. "It was only a joke!"

She smiled sweetly. "Why thank you. I do prefer being called insane than being called that word that rhymes with 'witch', actually. Insane suits me better." She then waved as she made her way to her car. "Maybe I'll see you some other time… perhaps when my teammates come to Irohazaka? Bye!" And with that, she simply backed her car into reverse and drove out of the parking lot. Seiji stood in place; completely dumbfounded until he'd finally realized that Emerald Fusion's Evo driver had outsmarted him.

"Smart-ass…" he muttered to himself. "She won't get away with this…"

---

"Another team in another prefecture, huh?" Nayth murmured as all four Emerald Fusion members sat around their round dining room table at the house where they were staying. Simon was drawing something on a scrap piece of paper and Denis was twirling a pen around his fingers while Vanney was lightly picking at a salad as she explained what she'd discovered.

"A team of LanEvo drivers in the Nikko area of Tochigi… that's the Irohazaka Emperors. Mind you, I only met one of their members. No clue as to whether he's the leader or not…"

"Did he look like he was the leader?" Nayth pressed on.

"No clue. All I know is that he was butt-ugly. Does that help?"

Denis frowned. "Vanney, you call a lot of people butt-ugly… you could mean anyone…"

"Is he good or not?" Simon queried as he looked up from his weird drawing of a cow (at least it _looked_ like a cow) and set his pen down. Vanney merely shrugged. 

"I don't know… but considering what Irohazaka looks like… he'd _have_ to be good… that mountain pass is lethal… I nearly crashed my car coming up the second section… lots upon lots of quick consecutive hairpins…" She shuddered at the memory. "It's an insane mountain pass."

"I like insane mountain passes!" Simon answered, perking up. "Is it more insane than the one where I raced that Takahashi guy?"

"Even more so than that…" Vanney answered. "There must be something like over twenty hairpins and most of them are consecutive. You need good cornering skills on Irohazaka…"

"My cornering is pretty good… I can take on that moron," Denis answered, cracking his knuckles. Nayth regarded him with a serious look.

"Look, if this mountain pass is really as difficult as Vanney says, you'll need to be very careful… because whoever's mastered that track must be a formidable force anywhere else," he pointed out matter-of-factly. Simon nodded his head vigorously.

"It's not because I think that I'm indestructible on Irohazaka… I just want to take that guy on… for attempting to manhandle my girlfriend!" Denis exclaimed hotly. "_No one_ manhandles my Vanney and gets away with it!"

Vanney coughed before she took a bite of her salad. "Denis… in technicality… if I were to wait for you to go out and avenge me for every time I've been manhandled, I'd have been molested several times… I _did_ tell you about how I dealt with Shingo Shouji of the Myougi Night Kids, ne? And while it didn't quite have the same outcome for Seiji Iwaki of the Irohazaka Emperors, I did escape unscathed." She flitted her hand at him. "So I can take care of myself. But if you want to go and challenge him, by all means. I do believe I told him that I'd tell you guys about their team. He may be expecting a challenge from us," she answered before she took another bite of her salad.

Denis shook his fist at his girlfriend while Simon finished his drawing and set it aside. "In any case, he drives an Evo, no?[1] he asked Vanney.

"I didn't check… like, Kenji told me that all the guys in Emperor have LanEvos… so if he's a member of Emperor, we would have to assume that he has an Evo…"[2] she explained before eating more of her salad.

Denis snorted. "I'll beat him, Vanney… you just watch me…"

---

Yes, that's right… there's still more to come!

Outtakes:

[1] Simon: "Quand même… il conduit un Evo, n'est-ce-pas?"

[2] Vanney: "J'ai pas checké… genre Kenji m'a dit que tous les gars dans Emperor ont des LanEvos… alors si il est dans Emperor, on doit croire qu'il a un Evo…"

AN: Seeing as I'd played Arcade Stage before actually seeing the anime and reading the manga, I hadn't realized that Irohazaka had a separate uphill and downhill, so I'd initially made it out that Vanney drove the downhill in reverse, assuming it was the uphill. And then, I found out my mistake and had to go back to correct it. Because of that, the next chapter will be delayed a bit, seeing as there's a _lot_ I have to change due to that one error. Also, I would like to add that the next chapter is pretty much where I'd left it hanging since July, so updates after that may be very slow, as I have to regain my train of thought and continue where I'd left off... O_o

Hopefully, my work place will give me more time off come the holidays so that I can work on this. I can only serve so much Krispy Kreme coffee and donuts before the smell starts to make me go into hallucinogenic episodes… (those donuts are murder, I tell you!)

Anyhow, that's that! Time to go to work now…

~BoomChish


End file.
